Bonnie Martens, SWD program manager, gave the Clark County commissioners an overview of SWD’s 2024 annual report.
Through its four programs in 2024, the district helped 3,200 residents with specialty recycling to get rid of more than 120 tons of items such as electronics, waste, paint and furniture.
In addition to that, as well as processing more than 57,000 tons of residential and commercial recycling through its drop-off locations, the district provided educational programs on the importance of recycling in more than 120 classrooms to more than 2,000 students; and helped with 16 community programs.
Sheriff’s Office and Health District
The SWD contracts services with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Combined Health District to help them with illegal dumping, inspection, licensing and enforcement.
The district has two environmental enforcement deputies who had 341 complaint calls and 237 cleanups in 2024, as well as 74 investigations.
“If there’s a mattress on the side of the road, most people don’t leave their name and say this belongs to so and so. But with bags of trash and some items that are left in alleyways, they can investigate and figure out who dumped what items,” Martens said.
Deputies also have a crew called P.R.I.D.E., which stands for Providing Responsibilities for Inmates through Duties for the Environment. This crew removed 192 tons of trash from alleyways, public right of ways and roadsides, along with removing 1,009 trash bags from townships roads, all of which totaled in 12,248 hours of service.
The health district helps SWD with responsibilities such as inspecting trash trucks, inspecting composting facilities and addressing complaints about illegal dumping and odors.
In 2024, the health district:
- Inspected 199 trash trucks and 23 composite facilities
- Received 178 complaints
- Conducted 394 inspections
- Conducted 84 inspections at 35 locations for scrap tires
SWD programs
Specialty Recycling, 1620 W. Main St., is held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon the first Saturday of the month.
About 3,200 paying residents brought items such as paint, chemicals, household hazardous waste, general electronics and bulky items such as couches and mattresses.
Collected in 2024 include:
- 43 tons of electronics and TVs
- 28 tons of households hazardous waste
- 25 tons of paint
- 28 tons of furniture and mattresses
- 8,800 cubic yards of yard waste, like tree branches and leaves, from 3,900 residential yards
- 12,200 cubic yards of yard waste from 1,000 municipal visits
Related to yard waste, Martens said the SWD does accept small amounts from residents, but they do have a contract with C&S Tree Service where you can take it out to their facility for free.
The SWD has multiple locations for drop-off recycling, including on Home Road and West Main Street in Springfield and locations in Northridge, Mad River Twp., Old Columbus Road and State Route 54 and Green Twp.
The Ohio EPA “requests, demands, requires” all solid waste districts to meet a 25% state goal for residential and commercial recycling, Martens said. In 2024, the SWD was at 37% for Clark County with 57,861 tons recycled.
There were 919 mixed recyclables such as aluminum and tin cans, glass bottle and jars, paper, plastic bottles, jugs and jars, tubs, yogurt and clear cups and 368 flattened cardboards.
Education programs are offered to a variety of individual classrooms for grades K-8 that focus on recycling, litter prevention and natural resource conservation.
In 2024, there were 127 classroom programs in 21 schools that reached 2,816 students.
Community programs are offered such as tours and community events. The SWD reaches out to the community through the website and the Keep Clark County Beautiful Facebook page.
In 2024, there were:
- 16 community programs that 481 residents attended
- Four Wittenberg University interns who completed 27 hours of community service
- 33,448 residents reached through he Keep Clark County Beautiful Facebook.
The Great American Cleanup had more than 1,000 volunteers, who that removed 225 bags of litter and cleaned 67 public spaces.
The 15th Annual Downtown Cleanup had 58 volunteers who removed 55 bags of litter within 40 blocks.
The Fall Painting Day had eight board members and one guest who planted 110 mums.
The Adopt-a-Spot had nine board members that picked up eight bags of litter.
New programs for 2025
New this year is the “Make Clark County A Litter Bit Better,” a business and community volunteer cleanup program. A staff member will meet with a business who gives them 5-10 employees to help them cleanup around their business.
“It’s a way for us to reach out to businesses and hopefully help answer any recycling questions or try to get them to recycle moving forward,” Martens said.
The SWD got a new 15-yard recycling container, awarded through an Ohio EPA Recycle Ohio Grant. With it, the SWD can deliver to events such as the Summer Arts Festival, Jazz and Blues Festival and Food Truck Competition.
ClearStream recycling bins have also been placed around Veterans Park to recycle plastic bottles and cups, aluminum cans and paper coffee cups.
Management Plan
Every five years, the district has to update its 15-year plan, which is ratified by all the county townships, turned into the Ohio EPA and overseen by a policy committee. Martens said the district has to get at least 60% of the county’s population to agree to the plan, in which they got 94%.
The goal of the current plan is to make sure there are safe and adequate waste management guidelines, disposal operations and recycling opportunities in the county, said Sam Perrin, educational specialist.
The SWD also provides education programs to the public and county schools to “promote safe waste disposal and recycling opportunities.”
“SWDs are important to have because they ensure there are safe and adequate waste management guidelines, disposal options and recycling opportunities within their districts,” Perrin said.
In the newest plan, the SWD will work to continue providing the county with safe disposal options and expand the recycling opportunities in the county.
The biggest challenge is making residents aware of program opportunities Perrin said.
The district is always trying new advertising methods or additional education programs to inform residents, he said.
“Ideally, to make this task easier, the SWD would be able to talk to each resident individually,” Perrin said. “While that is not necessarily feasible, the SWD does continue to offer a number of education programs, update its website and make regular social media posts to engage with as many county residents as possible to make them aware of all the opportunities the SWD offers.”
For more information, call 937-521-2020 or visit 32trash.org.
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